Cleveland Cavaliers: Competing against Hornets will be tall order

The Cleveland Cavaliers are shorthanded again, and reportedly having five rotation players out due to injury makes them even being in the game against the Charlotte Hornets in the second half a tall order.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t likely to have a good showing tonight against the Charlotte Hornets. They lost to the Hornets by 32 earlier this month, and they were healthier then; Cleveland has played better in the three games since that one, yes, but this is a different story. Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reported that the Cavaliers are without five rotation players tonight, as Kyle Korver (who’s been in recent trade rumors as well) and Cedi Osman will be joining Kevin Love, Sam Dekker and George Hill on the sideline. Cleveland will probably have a rough go of it, which is tough with the court looking awesome with the “City Edition” concept in full swing.

Charlotte’s star point guard Kemba Walker is going to be a ridiculously tough matchup for Cavs rookie point man Collin Sexton, who has been playing in a new starting role with Hill out, but he hasn’t played a player of Walker’s caliber in starting minutes yet. Walker is averaging 27.9 points on what would be a career-high 59.8 percent true shooting clip, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 34.2 minutes per game. That’s going to be tough for Sexton to come close to matching, and although I’ve been impressed with what the rookie has done lately, he has to realize that he’s not going to match Walker’s production.

I think it’s going to be difficult for Sexton to play within himself, and not having Osman will hurt the Cavs on the wing against a good playmaker in Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum. Jeremy Lamb will likely get buckets all night as well, and even without good wing defender Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (who’s out due to a reported right ankle sprain), I don’t see Cleveland getting enough penetration consistently to get open looks from the perimeter.

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I understand that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ two-big lineups involving a combination of either two of the three of Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr., Ante Zizic provides very good rebounding and does have a stout presence on the defensive interior, but it still shrinks spacing on the offensive end  and concedes too many open perimeter looks to opponents.

The Hornets’ offense is getting plenty of buzz right now due to their fourth-best offensive rating in the league (per NBA.com), and I just don’t see the Cavaliers defending them well enough on a consistent basis for four quarters. Mental lapses could be evident with a constant revolving door of a rotation, and Charlotte will likely get perimeter splashes from the likes of Malik Monk, Lamb and heady play from veteran Tony Parker (who’s averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists in 18.8 minutes per game).

High-flying rookie and decent perimeter shooter Miles Bridges could also present some challenges for the likes of Nance, J.R. Smith and others, too. Overall, this matchup looks like a rough one all around for Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew.

On the bright side, Rodney Hood, Sexton and potentially Andrew Harrison should see plenty of usage and this kind of game is valuable for their growth as scorers and passers. Unfortunately, there will probably be too much Jordan Clarkson shot-hunting, and the Cavs will likely be wasting a City Edition night.